visceral

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 17, 2023 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>visceral</strong> &#149; \VISS-uh-rul\&nbsp; &#149; <em>adjective</em><br /> <p><em>Visceral</em> is an adjective that describes something as coming from or triggering an instinctive emotional (as opposed to intellectual) response. In medical contexts it means “of or related to internal organs of the body.” </p> <p>// Although she is best known for her film and television roles, Sabrina much prefers the <em>visceral</em> excitement of acting on stage in front of an audience. </p> <p><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/visceral">See the entry ></a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>“The truest, most <em>visceral</em> comedy to me is always going to be Warner Bros. cartoons that were made in the 1940s and ’50s. That’s the stuff I grew up on that was shown in reruns. So I liked that kind of comedy. I was never as comfortable with comedy where I needed to make a point about something…” — Conan O’Brien, quoted in <em>New York Magazine</em>, 11 Sept. 2023</p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p>Apologies in advance for the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/offal">offal</a> puns, but we have a gut feeling it’s going to be hard to resist serving them up for this particular word. After all, the English language is home to a bellyful of words that refer literally to body parts and figuratively to emotions associated with them. If something has ever tickled your funny bone or touched your heart, we trust you’ve got our back on this. The adjective <em>visceral</em> is another prime example. Something described as <em>visceral</em> has to do with the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/viscus">viscera</a>—that is, the internal organs of the body (especially the heart, liver, or intestines). Yet even in the early years of